WXXI continues to put a spotlight on the work of Rochester Institute of Technology film and animation students by presenting a series of shorts biannually.

RIT Shorts airs Thursday, August 28 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV and the WXXI-TV Live Stream. Repeats Friday, August 29 at 10:30 p.m. and Sunday, August 31 at 3:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV

RIT Shorts is a bi-annual series that showcases the work of some of RIT’s most impressive student filmmakers, offering these young producers a platform to share their films to a broader audience while offering WXXI viewers the chance to see the incredible talent that RIT is cultivating.

Featured shorts include:

A Fish and a Bird by Deanna Moorehead 
A fish and a bird may fall in love but where would they make their home?” is a proverb that long predates this film. It poses the question: can two creatures built to thrive in different conditions maintain a relationship? Abstracted further: is love enough? “A Fish & A Bird” offers an answer to this question, by way of depicting the tragic romance of the titular animals as an all-out operetta. They serenade each other through the obfuscating surface of the water, and in the mysteriousness of the other each finds something with which to be enamored. When the boundary of land and sea strains the relationship, the fish is moved to change herself to better-suit her paramour. When she breaks the surface and they see each other plainly for the first time, their relationship is irrevocably altered.

Encyclopedia Galactica by Kenneth Reynolds 
In ancient days, humans would look at the stars and dream of an endless future; every point of light emblematic of a new horizon to cross, a new frontier to conquer, a destiny to claim. But this future would not come to pass. Instead, the future would see the human race gone, our pan-galactic society torn apart by the strains of expansion. The planets settled during humanity’s diaspora lay abandoned, with all traces of our presence eroding into ruin and dust; an ancient cosmic ecosystem swallowing our collective remains. And despite our absence, those hopeful, naive dreams of that now-ancient era still echo across the galaxy, for any who choose to intercept them. Encyclopedia Galactica is a mixed-media film about these forgotten worlds, and a glimpse into the galaxy that humanity has left behind.”

I Had To by Vinh Nguyen 
An exploration of the generational gap of the diaspora of the Vietnam war and its ripple effect on my life.

The Academy of Country Music Honors celebrates the biggest names in country music, as well as the top talent behind the scenes on Music Row.

Academy of Country Music Honors airs Friday, August 8 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Filmed at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2023, the 16th ACM Honors salutes the accomplishments of Clint Black, BRELAND, Kane Brown, Mary Chapin Carpenter, HARDY, Tim McGraw, Chris Stapleton, and more. The show features unique, never-before-seen performances from BRELAND and Keith Urban, Brandy Clark, Jordan Davis, Chris Janson, Lady A, Nelly, Carly Pearce, The War And Treaty, Trisha Yearwood, Brett Young, Bailey Zimmerman and more.

Photo: Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, and Dave Haywood performing at the Academy of Country Music Honors.
Credit: Academy of Country Music.

This documentary investigates the authorization to use the atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki in this context of fierce Japanese resistance to an invasion and provides a rare glimpse of Japanese decision-making in the waning months of the war.

American Experience “Victory in the Pacific” airs Tuesday, August 5 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2005, Victory in the Pacific examines the final year of World War II. From the American capture of the Mariana Islands in the Central Pacific in July 1944 to the surrender broadcast of Emperor Hirohito in August 1945, it delves into the rationale for using the atomic bomb and features the first-hand recollections of both American and Japanese civilians and soldiers.

Photo: Victory in the Pacific key art.
Credit: PBS.

The series is back with an exciting new season of drinks and recipes that get people and stories together, and this time Rochester is on the hit list!   

Spatchcock Funk airs Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

In episode four, “The 19th Hole”—airing Saturday, August 2 at 4 p.m. on WXXI-TV—while touring Central New York region’s best locations to celebrate the New York culinary scene, host Matt Read and producer Alex DeRosa let their appetites chart a course to the Canandaigua Country Club for a classic golf course family outing. Watch as the Rochester chapter inspires a cocktail that unwinds friendly competition on the course and whips up a dip that sets the vibe. The episode then showcases Rochester’s infamous Garbage Plate, which gets a clever remix, followed by an easy-to-put-together sweet treat that truly completes a fun day at the course.  

Got you curious yet? Catch the whole season this July every Saturday at 11:30 p.m. with repeats on Saturday at 4 p.m., starting July 12 on WXXI TV. 

Photo: Matt Read, Alex DeRosa, and another golfer
Credit: Spatchcock Funk

This documentary explores the remarkable stories behind the hopeful drawings of the children of Honkawa Elementary School in a war-ridden Hiroshima and the evolution of a friendship across distance and time.

Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard airs Monday, August 4 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Originally sent as a gift of thanks from the war-scarred children of Honkawa Elementary School in Hiroshima—responding to a donation of art and school supplies from the children of All Souls Unitarian Church—a box of colorful drawings was uncovered at a parishioner’s home in 1995. They surprisingly depicted self-portraits, festival flags and kites against a bright blue sky, children on a playground, and cherry blossoms in bloom—none reflecting the horror or trauma the children had endured. In 2010, church members set out to reunite the drawings with their creators.

Photo: Children of the All Souls Unitarian Church opening packages from the children of Honkawa Elementary School in Hiroshima.
Credit: American Public Television.

Grab a front-row seat at P!NK’s sold-out 2006 concert, packed with the Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter’s greatest hits.

P!NK: Live from Wembley Arena airs Thursday, August 7 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Captured in a dynamic 15-camera high-definition shoot during her I’m Not Dead tour in London, the show features performances like “Get The Party Started,” “Who Knew,” “Don’t Let Me Get Me,” and “Nobody Knows,” accompanied by acrobatics, elaborate stage sets, and sizzling costumes.

Photo: P!nk performing on stage.
Credit: PBS.